I haven’t recorded much in the way of macro-fauna in the mini-meadow. A frog is present every year when I cut the hay. A hedgehog visits, judging from the trails through the grass and droppings left behind. So it was nice today to boost that number to three species. Read more…

One caricature of the current debate between theists and atheists is as follows:

Atheist: “Religion is bad: look at the inquisition, the crusades, 9/11.”

Theist: “But religion also does a lot of good; don’t forget that. And most religious people don’t go off on crusades. Also atheism causes a lot more harm; look at Stalin, Mao Zedong, Hitler, Pol Pot. The harm caused by religious people isn’t caused by religion itself but by base human nature.”

I want to address these arguments and their validity. I do so because I think the majority of religious people accept the above theist stance as valid, and that it is a major factor keeping some people in their current religion; as a religious friend of mine once said “If I’m right then I’ve lived a good happy life, and if I’m wrong, no harm done.” I want to examine if this is true. Read more…